Rick Altergott
Rick Altergott | |
---|---|
Altergott photographed at a gallery show in 2004. | |
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Penciller, Inker |
Notable works |
Doofus Raisin Pie |
Spouse(s) | Ariel Bordeaux |
Rick Altergott is an American alternative cartoonist and illustrator. Altergott is best known for Doofus, a long-running low-brow, scatological series of strips which chronicle the misadventures of two small-town weirdos, Doofus and Henry Hotchkiss.
Life and career
Altergott's first published work was in the early 1980s, but he didn't really settle into the comics world until late in the decade, when he contributed regularly to the humor magazine Cracked. Throughout the 1990s Altergott published the small-press comic Douche Bag Dougan (the titular hero of which later made an appearance in Fantagraphics Books' Zero Zero anthology.)[1] Altergott's work has also appeared in Fantagraphics' Duplex Planet Illustrated and Hate, where Doofus was a long-running backup feature repeatedly promoted by Peter Bagge.
Altergott resides in Pawtucket, Rhode Island,[2] with his wife, fellow cartoonist Ariel Bordeaux. Their collaborative comic book Raisin Pie was published by Fantagraphics Books from 2002 to 2007.
In September 2006, Altergott released a serious biblical minicomic based on the life of Saint Matthias. In 2008, Altergott and Bordeaux contributed to the anthology Kramers Ergot 7.
In April 2014, Altergott began work on a weekly comic for Vice named "Flowertown USA."[3] The series lasted through the year.
Altergott is good friends with cartoonist Daniel Clowes, and lived in Chicago for a period when Clowes also lived there.[4] Due to the similarities in their drawing styles, some observers have suggested that Altergott is a pseudonym for Clowes, allowing Clowes to draw in a different, Wally Wood-inspired style. This is untrue.
Altergott is also friends with Jaime Hernandez.[5]
Quotes
“ | Rick Altergott is the unsung genius of American comedy.[2] | ” |
“ | Just when you think the inspired madman has deserted our culture for good, along came the king of them all to show us how it's done.[2] | ” |
Bibliography
- The Doofus Omnibus (Fantagraphics, 2002) ISBN 1-56097-494-X
Notes
- ↑ Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928-99. Accessed Nov. 26, 2008.
- 1 2 3 Altergott page on Fantagraphics website. Accessed Nov. 26, 2008.
- ↑ Flowertown, USA (episode 1). Accessed May 20, 2014.
- ↑ "Hail Doofus: Two-Handed Man interviews Rick Altergott" (Feb. 2002). Accessed Nov. 26, 2008.
- ↑ "Sex Advice From Cartoonists" Accessed Dec. 24, 2011 .
External links
- Rick Altergott at the Comic Book DB
- Lambiek.net's Comiclopledia entry
- Comic Art Collective page
- Two Handed Man interview (2002)
- Comics for Vice magazine